Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Without waiting for the east wind or the tide, the oars stop nine times out of ten miles when crossing the river.

I wonder which bridge the Qinhuai River will carry to Yangzhou tonight.

As Jia Lian rode leisurely along the river in a traditional Fujian boat, gazing at the lanterns and boats lining both banks, and at the Xiao Qinhuai River where even the ripples seemed to whisper tales of centuries of elegance, he couldn't help but marvel at how Yangzhou truly lived up to its reputation as a thousand-year-old city, its wealth and prosperity perfectly embodied on the banks of the small Xiao Qinhuai River.

Before long, a magnificent five-story restaurant appeared on the increasingly wide riverbank ahead, its height and splendor completely overshadowing all other buildings around it. The plaque hanging high above the entrance, with its three large, clearly gilded characters "Wangjiang Tower," shone brightly under the gleaming lanterns.

This is the most famous restaurant in Yangzhou, and it is a place that wealthy merchants and dignitaries from the north and south would almost always visit to relax after arriving in Yangzhou.

Unfortunately, tonight, this huge restaurant is completely different from its usual bustling self, appearing quite quiet.

Upon disembarking and stepping onto the veranda, Jia Lian saw Zhou Boru and his entourage waiting quietly on the veranda in front of the restaurant. He smiled and said, "I am late and have kept Chairman Zhou waiting. My apologies."

Zhou Boru quickly bowed and said he dared not. As he led Jia Lian into the restaurant, he introduced the history of Wangjiang Tower and its special features. He also said that the tower had been reserved for the night and no one would disturb him, so that Jia Lian could enjoy the fine wine and food of Jiangnan and listen to a few Wu folk songs in peace.

Although Jia Lian felt it was a waste to book the entire restaurant for him alone, he didn't say anything, since it wasn't his money that was being wasted.

For these salt merchants, if they didn't spend more money on him now, they would feel uneasy, fearing that he might covet their family's wealth.

"Welcome, Your Excellency!"

Upon arriving on the third floor, we entered an absurdly large private room, where, as expected, all the remaining salt merchants of Yangzhou were gathered.

"Please, everyone, don't stand on ceremony, please have a seat."

Jia Lian's politeness and friendliness greatly surprised the salt merchants. Looking at Jia Lian, who was smiling and casually taking the seat of honor, the salt merchants found it hard to believe that this smiling young man was the same ruthless and decisive imperial envoy who had previously been known for his willingness to kill and confiscate property.

Was it because Chairman Zhou and his team's preparations these past few days had paid off, or was Jia Lian simply not a greedy and cruel person at all?

The reason the Zhao and Wang families were raided was simply because they sent assassins to kill him, which angered him. And the Feng family, too, was punished because they had committed too many evil deeds.

If that's the case, then tonight's events should go more smoothly than expected.

They simply couldn't bear living with a knife to their throats, their lives hanging in the balance. So, they were willing to pay any price to resolve the situation.

It wasn't that they hadn't considered resisting, but rather that they were utterly powerless to do so. The Zhao and Wang families, who had attempted to resist, had already vanished without a trace.

It wasn't that they were too weak, but rather that Jia Lian was too strong.

Jia Lian was an imperial envoy sent to investigate them, and he had a great sense of righteousness.

I, Jia Lian, had already subtly and silently seized control of Yangzhou City through sheer force. Even their respective homes were under strict guard by soldiers, so their every move was under Jia Lian's surveillance.

Under such circumstances, the only outcome of resistance would be to follow in the footsteps of the Zhao and Wang families.

Therefore, after the banquet began, the twenty-odd salt merchants, some middle-aged and some elderly, all sat cautiously as diners, only daring to move their chopsticks slightly when Jia Lian looked up and ordered them to start eating.

Jia Lian himself was quite pleased with himself. To be honest, it was the first time he had attended such a lavish and high-class banquet.

Before inheriting the title, he was just a stubborn young man in the capital. After inheriting the title, he was qualified to attend state banquets and other important occasions, but he missed them all due to various official duties.

In fact, in Jia Lian's opinion, even the grandest state banquet in the palace might not be able to compare to the feast before him.

The wine goes without saying, but let's just talk about the dishes. Shark fin and bird's nest soup—if they can't make something fancy…

Come on, none of you are even qualified to sit at the table.

Various rare and exotic dishes, which looked incredibly exquisite and expensive, were served one after another. Moreover, once three dishes had been introduced and Jia Lian had not touched them, the waiters would remove them at Zhou Boru's signal, so that new dishes could be served...

In the short span of half an incense stick's time, dozens of dishes had already been served, and more were still being brought in, with no end in sight. Even Jia Lian, who had somewhat anticipated this, couldn't help but feel that it was far too extravagant. Therefore, he put down his chopping board and asked with a smile, "Just how many dishes have you prepared tonight?"

"Not many, not many, only one hundred and eight famous dishes from Jiangnan... If you think that's not enough, I have another list here that includes famous dishes from all the provinces of Jiangnan. Please take a look, and if there are any dishes you would like to try, just tick them off, and I will go down and arrange for the restaurant to make them."

The old man from the Xu family, one of the five major salt merchants, rose obsequiously and presented the booklet.

Zhou Boru also laughed and said, "Sir, there's no need to worry that the chefs at Wangjiang Tower can't cook it. Wangjiang Tower receives wealthy people from all over the country every day, so the chefs they recruit are all famous chefs from various places."

The Wangjiang Tower even boasted that in the entire Jiangnan region, there was no dish that others couldn't make, only dishes that others could name.

Jia Lian took the booklet, unfolded it, glanced at it, but didn't actually order any more dishes. What a joke! One hundred and eight dishes—that's already the standard for the legendary Manchu Han Imperial Feast!

To be honest, the way these salt merchants treated him was already suspected of overstepping their bounds.

In this era, the crime of transgression is ubiquitous, and it is difficult to define it with a fixed standard.

However, it can be summarized in one sentence: what the emperor did not enjoy, the high officials could not enjoy; and what the high officials could not enjoy, the common people could not enjoy.

At least Jia Lian was certain that Emperor Ningkang would not eat more than a hundred dishes in one meal!

He tucked the booklet containing countless dishes into his pocket, thinking it might come in handy in the future, and ordered that the remaining dishes not be served.

Zhou Boru and the others didn't say anything. Sensing that Jia Lian was somewhat satisfied with the dishes, they clapped their hands discreetly.

"Clang~~"

Two maids pushed open the partition door beside them, revealing a completely different world inside.

Jia Lian turned his head and saw that the light in this smaller room than the main hall was much brighter.

Inside that separate hall, there was little else but a dozen or so beautiful women.

It's not surprising to find beauties in such a place, but what caught Jia Lian's attention was that each of the dozen or so beauties standing together, striking dance poses, was so graceful and charming.

Looking them over one by one, there wasn't a single one who wasn't even slightly less attractive.

Even Chen Pan'er, who had disappeared after disembarking, had changed into a dancing dress and joined the group. When she saw Jia Lian's gaze, she remained completely still, but secretly gave him a flirtatious wink.

Seeing the look of appreciation in Jia Lian's eyes, the old man Xu quickly asked with a smile, "What do you think of these women, sir?"

"Great, they're all very good."

A group of top-quality beauties gathered together is naturally a pleasing sight, and even Jia Lian would be embarrassed to say something against his conscience.

"Hehehe, I'm glad you think it's good. These women are all famous courtesans in Jiangnan, and each of them charges at least twenty taels of silver for each appearance."

"You may not know this, but in the brothels of Jiangnan, a fee of two taels of silver is generally considered the top courtesan. Fees of twenty taels are rare in any place; even in Yangzhou, only a handful of top courtesans dare to ask for twenty taels or more..."

Jia Lian naturally knew that in brothels, appearance fees were the most important indicator of a courtesan's worth.

After all, only when so many high-ranking officials and nobles are willing to support him can he receive a higher appearance fee.

Although brothels were everywhere in Jiangnan, and courtesans were countless,

However, very few of them manage to gain widespread fame.

Naturally beautiful women are rare, and those with both beauty and talent are even rarer. Two taels of silver is a reasonable price to pay for a top courtesan in a typical brothel.

Don't underestimate two taels of silver. Even for a young lady from a noble family like the Jia family, that's only about the amount of money she receives every month.

These top courtesans only needed to come out and dance and sing for the guests to easily earn two taels of silver. Of course, if they went out to a banquet to perform for important guests, their appearance fee would naturally be much higher.

This shows how rare it was for a courtesan to dare to set a minimum appearance fee of twenty taels of silver, and how confident she was in her own beauty.

Such a courtesan is probably something that most brothels in the Jiangnan region could not offer.

This impressed Jia Lian; indeed, he was a wealthy and powerful salt merchant. Had he managed to invite all the most famous courtesans from the entire Jiangnan region?

No wonder those salt merchants insisted on holding the banquet today. These past few days have probably just been used to prepare for this whole affair!

Of course, Jia Lian wouldn't naively assume that a courtesan costing twenty taels of silver was necessarily more beautiful than one costing five or ten taels. He understood the principle of celebrity influence. For example, in later generations, female celebrities weren't necessarily more beautiful just because they commanded higher appearance fees.

At least it's a metric.

Sure enough, Zhou Boru added, "Master Xu is right. These courtesans are hard to find even with money."

"If it weren't for your renowned reputation, sir, we fear that even with the hefty reward, we wouldn't have been able to invite them to perform for you."

Jia Lian was only half-convinced by these words.

Even if famous courtesans are elevated to high status by wealthy patrons, they are ultimately just playthings. As long as one is willing to pay the price, there are few who are truly unattainable.

Take the present situation for example. They openly stated that there are only a handful of people in the entire Yangzhou who can meet the minimum performance fee of twenty taels of silver or more, yet there are more than ten here, clearly most of whom were invited from other prefectures. If it were up to his reputation to make these pampered courtesans travel a long way to perform for him, Jia Lian wouldn't be so presumptuous as to presume to do so.

Of course, Jia Lian also believed that courtesans who had reached this level had a certain degree of freedom and the right to choose their clients.

Not particularly concerned about that, Jia Lian simply asked, "May I ask, Chairman Zhou, what was Miss Pan'er's appearance fee before?"

Zhou Boru also believed that Shen Pan'er and Jia Lian were having an affair, so he politely introduced, "Miss Pan'er's fee for one appearance used to be one hundred and fifty taels. Of course, this refers to the price Miss Pan'er charged for entertaining customers in the brothel. Being invited to perform like tonight, the fee would naturally be more than that."

As you may know, Miss Pan'er is the top courtesan of the Imperial Music Academy and the number one dancer in Yangzhou, which is why she commands such a high price. In fact, even the most famous courtesans in the entire Jiangnan region, the four most renowned courtesans of Jiangnan each year, only charge about the same amount of money for an appearance.

Of course, there was also an unexpected one…”

At this point, Zhou Boru deliberately kept everyone in suspense, then turned around and gave them a meaningful look.

As the music of the zither suddenly began, Shen Pan'er and the others, who had been posing for a long time in the next room, began to dance gracefully.

It was then that Jia Lian noticed that behind the twirling dance of Shen Pan'er and the others in the next hall, there was a gauze curtain hanging from the roof beam. Behind the curtain, a beautiful woman could be vaguely seen gracefully plucking the strings of a zither.

The sound of the zither also came from behind the gauze curtain.

From the fact that Shen Pan'er and the others were quietly dancing to the music, Jia Lian could tell that the main performer tonight was the person playing the zither behind the scenes.

Considering the expressions of Zhou Boru and the others, and their current predicament on the Little Qinhuai River, Jia Lian had a rough idea of ​​who the person playing the zither was.

Perhaps influenced by the discussions of the Confucian scholars he overheard on the Fuzhou boat, Jia Lian, who had initially only found the music pleasant, also found it to be extraordinary after calming down and listening to it more attentively.

It is as gentle as the morning rain in the mountains and forests, and as clear as the chirping of a hundred birds.

Jia Lian chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Indeed, it's just a pretentious affectation."

Human nature dictates that for a fleeting moment, listening to the other person's music, he felt as if he had become their soulmate.

This is a disease that needs to be cured.

As the music ended, the dancers filed out, leaving only dozens of eyes staring intently at the draped curtain.

After a while, the sound of someone getting up could be heard inside, and a tall, elegant woman gracefully walked out.

It was indeed the beauty we saw on the ship.

Now, bathed in the bright light of the hall, even though the other person was still veiled in a gossamer-thin gauze, Jia Lian could see their face.

Even though Jia Lian was mentally prepared, he was still slightly startled when he suddenly saw it.

What a beautiful and delicate face, and what a refined and elegant temperament.

The woman's beauty was within Jia Lian's expectations. What was remarkable was that her facial features and the temperament she exuded were very similar to Miaoyu's.

They are about the same age.

Even in her every move, there was an elegance so natural and refined that few women in the world could match. This was something that Miaoyu, who relied solely on aloofness to project an air of "refined elegance," could not attain.

To be fair, at first glance, this woman was even more beautiful and exquisite than Miaoyu.

This was truly unexpected for Jia Lian. Since meeting Miaoyu, Jia Lian had never felt that anyone could surpass her in appearance and temperament.

Perhaps only Baochai, who is a bit older, and the Empress Dowager in the palace can be compared to her. However, Baochai is voluptuous and follows a different path than these two women.

The Empress Dowager, after all, was over thirty. Jia Lian learned her true age from Princess Zhaoyang.

"This humble servant in green greets Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy and all the gentlemen."

The beautiful woman's voice was as clear and beautiful as her temperament, like the soft chirping of a nightingale, so mesmerizing that it made one's ears and heart tingle upon first hearing it.

At this moment, Jia Lian finally understood why the people on the Little Qinhuai River had been so excited when they guessed that the person playing the flute was this woman.

Seeing that Jia Lian's gaze was fixed on the woman, Zhou Boru felt much more at ease, realizing that his efforts to bring her back from Suzhou at such a fast pace had not been in vain.

For someone like Jia Lian, a truly captivating beauty is probably more effective than any other means!

He then laughed and beckoned to the beauty, saying, "Qingyi, why don't you come over and pour wine for the Imperial Envoy, then sit down next to him and serve him well?"

"Yes."

As the beautiful woman calmly took the wine pot and walked to Jia Lian's side, Xu Baoan, on the other side, couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Does Your Excellency know the name of the lady in green?"

Jia Lian shook his head.

He was well aware of Xu Baoan's eager attitude. With the Wang family's downfall, in terms of influence among the major salt merchants, apart from the Zhou family, the Xu family was second to none.

He must want to take over the position of vice president of the salt trade association originally held by the Wang family, and perhaps even want to take a larger share of salt permits from him.

With three salt merchants gone bankrupt, their share of salt permits would naturally be divided up by others.

"This girl in green is undoubtedly the number one among all the brothels under Chairman Zhou's name."

It could even be said that she was the number one courtesan in the entire Jiangnan region.

"Sir, you must have heard of the annual Flower Queen Contest in Jiangnan, right? It's organized by the Southern Music Bureau, and the girl in green was the winner of the previous two contests, also known as the First Flower Queen."

As Xu Baoan spoke, he deliberately gave Jia Lian some time to process what he was saying. He was somewhat surprised that the Zhou family had revealed this trump card, and he was actually pleased with it.

Jia Lian also feigned surprise.

"Hahaha, and as Chairman Zhou just said, the highest appearance fee for any courtesan in the entire Jiangnan region is only one or two hundred taels of silver. Even if someone occasionally asks for more than two hundred taels, they are extremely rare, or they are simply undeserving of the title and deceiving themselves."

Only the young lady in green, does Your Excellency know that nobles from all the major prefectures of Jiangnan need to pay a price to even see her?

How much?

Xu Baoan wanted to wait for Jia Lian to respond and flatter him, but he saw that Jia Lian had already turned to take the wine cup handed to him by the beauty, paying no attention to him at all. He could only laugh to himself and say, "Five hundred gold! A full five hundred gold! This is the first case of its kind in the north and south since the founding of the dynasty!"

Moreover, this wasn't decided by the girl in green herself, but rather by her countless suitors who spontaneously nominated her.

It can be said that in the Jiangnan region, even high-ranking officials and nobles consider it an honor to see a girl in green.

"We're so lucky to have met you today, sir. Otherwise, we don't know when we'd ever get to see the young lady in green."

As Xu Baoan spoke, he couldn't help but steal a glance at the woman beside him, who remained unmoved by his praise and quietly poured wine for Jia Lian.

What he said was true. In fact, the main purpose of these wealthy merchants in Jiangnan in running brothels and cultivating beautiful courtesans was to win over truly powerful figures.

Gu Qingyi is a promising talent that the Zhou family has finally managed to find. They keep a close eye on her and are absolutely wary of people who are not worth investing in.

To outsiders, these salt merchants were wealthy and powerful, but to the Zhou family, they were clearly not worth investing in—the kind of people you couldn't even meet, no matter how much money you offered. Otherwise, if they shamelessly tried to defile someone, the Zhou family would suffer a huge loss.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian also glanced quietly at the beautiful woman beside him, who was quiet and reserved, a stark contrast to Shen Pan'er's eager demeanor.

What those people said was actually true—five hundred gold coins, which is five hundred taels of silver, and that's the minimum appearance fee? That's really outrageous.

Throughout history, the redemption of famous courtesans has cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand taels of silver.

Doesn't this mean that Gu Qingyi can earn the fortune of a peerless courtesan just by making a few appearances?

How much money should she pay for her redemption?

However, the fact that a famous courtesan has reached the point of being sold likely indicates that her glory has faded and her time has come to an end, but this cannot be entirely compared to the past. For example, this beauty before us, even if Xu Baoan and his men offered 100,000 taels of silver, the Zhou family probably wouldn't let her go.

Such a beauty, if used properly, is of immeasurable value.

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